What this means in practice is that we enter a minefield where we start to lose major ecosystems as temperatures continue to rise.
This makes it incredibly important to do everything we can to limit the amount of additional warming we see; each 1/10 of a degree adds to the risk.
I’m really dreading this next summer here in Canada. Last year the forest fires were brutal (picture having no AC, poisonous smoke and 30C (86F for the Americans) outdoors and about 35C (95F) inside) and we had hardly any snow so far this winter, so next year the entire fucking place is probably going to be on fire all summer long.
Also we’re definitely getting an AC before then lol.
If you haven’t already, consider a heat pump instead. It can do cooling and heating, generally more efficiently (in terms of energy, maybe not money depending on local gas prices) than alternatives. It’s basically the same device as an air conditioner, except it can be reversed so it can heat too.
One of the most shocking things about this climate change so far is that the summer is no longer a season to look forward to. For the last two years the skies have been white, orange or brown and the air has smelled of smoke for large stretches of the summer and on into the fall. Evidently the powers that be will do nothing unless they are made uncomfortable, and making them uncomfortable means more than polite protesting.
Good news (if you can even call it that) is that depending on how widespread the fires were you might have an easier time with wildfires this coming year
I highly recommend a few good air purifiers though, it’s been a godsend since I picked one up a few years ago